1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an exterior airbag for vehicles, which is deployed forwards in the front of a vehicle just before a collision of the vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, a vehicle is provided with a variety of safety devices for protecting a driver and passengers when an unexpected accident of the vehicle occurs. A representative example of the safety devices is an airbag, which can protect a driver or a passenger who is seated in a front passenger seat of a vehicle.
The airbag is configured such that, when a vehicle collides with another vehicle or an object, pressurized gas is instantaneously injected into an airbag cushion in response to collision shock and the airbag cushion is quickly inflated by the pressurized gas, thus covering the front portion of a driver or a passenger seated in the front passenger seat of the vehicle and protecting the driver or the passenger from a windshield glass or an object placed in front of the vehicle.
Conventional airbags are interior airbags, which are installed inside the passenger compartment of a vehicle and are deployed inside the passenger compartment so as to protect a driver and passengers seating inside the passenger compartment. However, the interior airbags cannot protect vehicle bodies, which collide with each other, or persons outside the colliding vehicle which is equipped with the interior airbags. Described in brief, the interior airbags cannot protect vehicle bodies and people outside colliding vehicles.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.